THE Ospreys fell to Heineken Cup defeat against Toulouse at the Stade Ernest Wallon this afternoon, but they went down having had an almighty go at the French giants.

THE Stade Ernest Wallon scoreboard may have spelt out a comprehensive defeat at the final whistle, but it didn’t tell the story of a spirited and gutsy Ospreys display in Toulouse.

Six of the Swansea-based region’s players made their Heineken Cup debuts in one of the most daunting arenas in the European game, as the visitors grappled with a horrendous injury list that decimated their front five.

Of course, there is no clouding the disappointment of the reverse or the fact that it means the Ospreys are all but mathematically out of contention to progress from their pool to the quarter-finals.

Under the circumstances, though, this match was a major long-term plus for Steve Tandy’s men, even if supporters are always more interested in the here and now.

The only pity was the realisation that, had the autumn international series not accounted for so many of their experienced personnel, this match would have been there for the taking for the Ospreys.

Instead, with only one-and-a-half training sessions leading up to it, the writing was always on the wall.

Saying all that, when replacement prop Ryan Bevington went over for the game’s final try in the dying minutes, though it was a mere consolation, it was no more than his team deserved for their overall effort.

In fact, had they been more clinical in a dominant 10-minute spell before half-time, the Ospreys may actually have led at the interval.

As it was they went in just 12-7 behind, with a try by Samoan scrum-half Kahn Fotuali’i and a series of dangerous attacks having seriously rattled star-studded Toulouse.

It was a pity that the two tries the home side claimed before that intervention came gift-wrapped courtesy of Ospreys errors.

The first, from centre Florian Fritz in the eighth minute, was down to a glaring missed tackle by second-row Ian Gough.

And when Toulouse captain and openside flanker Yannick Nyanga touched down in the corner shortly afterwards, it was only because he had reacted quickest to a loose ball off a lineout that really should have been snared by the Ospreys.

The 12-0 lead those two incidents crafted for Toulouse allowed them to settle, and you feared then for just how gruesome the eventual ledger may become.

But not a bit of it. The second quarter belonged to the away side and though they were far more under the cosh in the second half, some of their defence was simply heroic.

Assistant coach Jonathan Humphreys spoke of his pride in his players in the tunnel after the game, and he had every right to do so because a lesser side would have capitulated under the sheer weight and power of the Toulouse juggernaut.

Perhaps one incident exemplified the scale of the Ospreys’ resolve and it came in the 50th minute.

Through a series of scrums then pick-and-drives, Toulouse hammered at the visitors’ line.

But everywhere white Ospreys’ jerseys flung themselves into contact and then they won a penalty which allowed fly-half Dan Biggar to clear the danger to touch.

Even if it was not, on the face of it, the most significant episode of the encounter, it summed up in a nutshell the scale of the visitors’ bravery.

However they could only hold out for so long, and in the 56th minute the dam burst when arch-predator Vincent Clerc dotted down in the corner after Toulouse had broken down the blindside off a five-metre scrum.

Having put so much into a largely rearguard action, the Ospreys tired as the fourth quarter arrived and, when Samoan prop Census Johnson claimed a bonus point fourth try, it was game set and match to Toulouse as the Mexican waves around the stadium began.

The one-way traffic continued and although the Ospreys never threw in the towel, they couldn’t prevent Huget from bagging a fifth try in the closing stages.

But Bevington had the last word and it said it all that the score was greeted with applause even from the Toulouse supporters, who knew all about the injury baggage their opponents had travelled with and seemed to appreciate the fact that they still managed to stretch their side.

On this evidence, you wouldn’t rule out the Ospreys turning the tables on the French club at the Liberty Stadium next weekend, even though their squad will remain just as threadbare.

If they need any inspiration, perhaps they should look to the Ebbw Vale class of 1998 to provide it.

Fourteen years ago the Steelmen went to Toulouse for a Heineken Cup match and lost 108-16.

The score a week later in the return at Eugene Cross Park? 19-11 to Vale.

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